I need help with design issues in a word(ish) game

Post date: 2024-03-23 04:16:21

Being a fan of Little Alchemy and then learning about Infinite Craft on the blue, I thought I'd take the next logical step - add a subtraction mechanic and make it goal-based daily game. I've gotten a little feedback so far but I'm looking for some thoughts on common issues.

The main issue has been a phenomenon we're calling "mud lock" where the player gets seemingly close to the goal word, let's say "swamp", but they end up dancing around it just getting a similar word like "mud" repeatedly. This kind of thing isn't an issue with IC where there is no defined goal other than to have fun fiddling around. I'm not sure what can be done about this other than playing a constant game of wack-a-mole in the database when a word is too often generated as a combo.

Other things I'm curious about:
1. Do you feel the instructions are adequate? Some people who have never seen IC were quite confused but I don't know how to further simplify the instructions
2. Do you find any visual elements confusing or unintuitive?

BONUS for those with backend dev experience:
3. What would your ideal db structure look like while maintaining decent latency? I feel like I'm committing a crime by keeping the combos in a kv store...

Thank you for your help!
wordsfordays.com

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